The Game (episode)
Wesley Crusher visits the Enterprise only to see everyone behaving strangely on account of an addictive, mind-controlling game. Summary Teaser Commander Riker is on shore leave on Risa, where he's been spending time with a Ktarian woman named Etana Jol. She teases him by taking his combadge, and then, to his disbelief, throws it out a window. She introduces to him a game involving a device that fits over the ears and projects signals into the eyes. This creates in the wearer's field of vision an image of discs going into funnels. When a disk goes into one of said funnels, the player is "rewarded" by receiving pleasure signals from the device. Etana says that the game can go as far as the player will take it, and Riker decides to continue playing. Act One :"Captain's Log: Stardate 45208.2. Commander Riker has rejoined the ''Enterprise from Risa, and we are on our way to an uncharted area called the Phoenix Cluster. We're all anticipating this historic first look at the region." Riker enters the bridge and notices that things are starting to get busy around the ''Enterprise. He says that five new science teams have just beamed in from the Zhukov with quarters filling fast. Captain Picard adds that on top of everything else, they only have two weeks to complete the exploration -- something that Riker doesn't like, as he thought they had five weeks. This is due to the recent addition of a diplomatic mission to Oceanus IV to the agenda. Picard tasks Riker to ensure that all the science teams have an equal chance to complete their research, which would be a tough juggling act, says Riker. Picard also tells the first officer that they also have a scheduled rendezvous with a shuttle carrying Wesley Crusher, who is vacationing from the Academy and could provide some much-needed extra help. In engineering, Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge is up to his neck in observation schedules, and explains to Riker the biggest hurdle would be sensor availability, a task made more difficult since two new exobiologists and three stellar cartographers transferred from the Zhukov. Getting down to business of availability, La Forge tells Riker that the lateral sensors are booked solid for planetary observation, and the Gamma ray scanners are being reprogrammed by Ensign Robin Lefler. La Forge compliments her work in engineering, remarking that she's the specialist for this mission. Lefler explains to Riker that they're increasing the available bandwidth of the sensors so more science teams can use the sensors at once. This is done by multiplexing the array, and Lefler assures the first officer that it will be done before they arrive. Riker tells Geordi that he's brought something back from Risa that he has to try. La Forge reluctantly takes a pass as he is running a full sensor recalibration in ten minutes, but promises to see Riker about it later. In Ten Forward, Riker eyes Deanna Troi, who is enjoying a large chocolate sundae. Jokingly, he asks if she's depressed, to which Troi replies, "I'm fine, commander." She offers him a spoonful, but he politely declines, saying he doesn't like fudge. Troi smiles and tells Riker she never met a chocolate she didn't like. Getting technical, she divulges into the experience by explaining the best way to eat it and enjoy it, a detailed ritual which amuses Riker. He then tells her about the game he brought back from Risa, which he promises would be "better than chocolate". Act Two With the Enterprise and an starship parked, Wesley is transported and is greeted by Chief O'Brien, who congratulates Miles on his daughter, Molly. He says that she's a spitting image of her father. Miles informs Wesley that the senior officers are in a meeting, and that Wesley can go to his mother's quarters. At Wesley's request, Miles hails the bridge and confirms that it's alright for Wesley to drop into the observation lounge to say hello. A darkened room awaits Wesley, who looks around in confusion. The lights go on and Doctor Beverly Crusher greets her son with a big hug, followed by Picard. He speaks to him in Latin and Wesley responds back; Picard credits that his Latin has improved. Troi compliments the uniform as he is looking handsome, and Geordi says the uniform "drives the girls wild"". Worf offers him a Travokian pound cake which he made himself. Data then asks if their attempts to make him uncomfortable were effective. Wesley admits they were, having wondered if he was on the wrong ship. Riker asks Wesley to assist the crew with the Phoenix Cluster survey. La Forge wants him to settle first and them to see him in engineering to get started. Beverly then asks Troi about the game, and she invites the doctor to come by her quarters to check it out. Wesley and Data talk about his time at the Academy, which Wesley found surprisingly challenging, as there's much more to know than starship operations. Data recounts his early days at the Academy, during which his lack of human understanding put him at a social disadvantage. One example was practical jokes, of which the android was a victim of several. Wesley completely understands and shares a practical joke that was played on him by fellow cadet Adam Martoni. Another obstacle was the Academy's annual Sadie Hawkins Dance. It was an awkward experience for both. Wesley admits he's not a dancer, and Data shares that he personally learned to dance thanks to Beverly, a talented former dancer. He offers to share what he learned with Wesley. Getting right to work, Wesley begins to modify the planetary scans while keeping the datalines open for the stellar physicist. Seeing that he's having difficulties with the sensors, Lefler walks over and gives him a hand. They introduce themselves, but before they can chat, Lefler points out that Wesley's neutrinos are drifting, leaving Wesley scrambling to get back to work. Conflicts arise between the stellar physicists and the planetary evolution team, with both of them wanting to be the first to use the thermal imaging array, Data reports. La Forge suggests they flip a coin, as they won't be able to finish the mission without working together. Data then is called away to sickbay by Beverly, who needs assistance. As he enters, she is working on an experiment using bioactive silicon and needs her tricorder modified to a certain specification. Data agrees to help, but as he works on the tricorder, Beverly shuts him off. Troi and Riker enter sickbay and carry him to a bio-bed, and secure the doors to sickbay. Beverly begins to work on the android. Act Three Enjoying some tea with Picard, Wesley details his instructors at the academy: Nevakiovch for anthropology, Horn for creative writing. Picard is pleased to hear that Wesley met Boothby his first week. When asked how he was doing, and mused that Boothby may have told Wesley some stories about Picard in his academy days, Wesley admits Boothby didn't remember Picard until he saw an old yearbook picture. Boothby was very proud that Picard had become captain of the Enterprise, and showed Wesley a grand tour of the gardens - the very same tour Picard got when he was at the Academy. Wesley asked about the initials "A.F." that Boothby caught Picard carving in his prized elm tree, which Picard admits was an old acquaintance of his. His preoccupation with her cost him a passing grade in organic chemistry. Picard advises Wesley that whenever he meets someone whose initials he would carve in that elm tree, it should not interfere with his studies. Picard is then summoned to sickbay by Beverly. Beverly explains to the captain that Data was complaining about a servo malfunction, and although her scans came up negative, he collapsed. La Forge determines that his higher signals are intact, but none of them are entering the rest of his body through his positronic brain, almost like a comatose state. Picard wants to be kept up-to-date on the situation. In his quarters, Riker and La Forge end up with a dead end with no evidence to support a shutdown. The personal, diagnostic, and duty logs all show normal and a standard security sweeps shows nothing out of the ordinary. Riker assures the troubled La Forge that Dr. Crusher has everything taken care of, and suggests that La Forge takes a break to unwind. La Forge agrees, which opens the opportunity for Riker to introduce him to the game. Still working on the sensors, Lefler shares with Wesley her view of conduit configuration quoting her personal Law #36: "You have to go with what works". The laws are her personal rules: Whenever she learns something new, she makes a law so as not to forget it. To date, she has 102 laws. She credits Wesley's reputation for being good. Wesley realizes that Lefler knows more about him than he realizes. She admits she's heard about him from a few friends at the Academy. She also wants to know about the revenge prank he played on Adam Martoni. Wesley mentions there is another side to the story, and then Lefler inquires about his birthmark. Wesley complains he is at a disadvantage, as he hardly knows Lefler. While he needs to work on the sensor relays, he offers a chance to even the score. He invites her to meet him for coffee, but she counters with a dinner proposal, which he accepts. :"Captain's Log, supplemental: We have arrived at the Phoenix Cluster, but it will take us several hours to determine the best possible location for which to conduct our survey. Commander Data's condition remains unchanged with no further indication to the cause of his collapse." Beverly clears a challenging level of the game, but is interrupted by Wesley, who inquires about it. Embarrassed, she concedes that the game was meant for him, but couldn't resist trying it out. When offered a chance to try it, Wesley passes and instead asks about Data. She says La Forge has everything under control, and stops Wesley from going to help out, reminding him he's on vacation. Running late for his date with Lefler, Wesley promises his mother he will have time to spend together while he's on board. She then becomes adamant for her son to try one round of the game, but he insists he needs to get ready for his date. She tells Wesley to have a good time and sets the game down on a table. Lefler begins to talk about her life in Starfleet; her childhood involved frequent moving, as her parents were highly in-demand as specialists. As a child, she enjoyed playing with a tricorder, as Wesley did with a warp coil. She concedes her parents didn't have much time to spend with her, even when she needed them, which prompted her to make her first law: you can only count on yourself. They begin to discuss the game. Lefler says all the engineers are going crazy over it. They glance over at crewman playing the game in a trance-like state. Lefler dismisses it as a fad, but Wesley wants to find out more before playing it. They team up to look into it, and as they leave Ten Forward, another crewman in a command red uniform begins playing. The two begin to study the game, and what it does to the brain. The highest concentration of activity is the pleasure side of the brain, a key component in the game: it's addictive. Another unusual reading came from the pre-frontal cortex, which handles reasoning. Wesley concludes he needs to inform the captain about this discovery. Wesley explains to Picard what he and Lefler discovered, having concluded it is psychotropically addictive. Picard is even further concerned when he learns the game affects the brain's reasoning center. Picard takes action and starts an investigation immediately, and thanks him for bringing it to his attention, mentioning how good it is to have him back. As Wesley leaves, he turns around, picks up the game he had hidden when Wesley arrived, and resumes playing. Act Four Wesley and Robin investigate Data's mysterious "malfunction", and determine that someone has severed a connection between his positronic brain and the rest of his body. Wesley is disturbed, and tells Robin that only two people on board Enterprise have the training and experience to disable Data in this way: La Forge and his mother. They deduce that he has been deactivated to be kept out of the way so that the game could be spread throughout the rest of the susceptible crew. To be safe, they replicate fake game devices so that they will appear to have been affected as well. This proves timely when Picard sends Crusher and Worf with a pair of devices to force onto Wesley and Robin, but are fooled into thinking that someone somehow got them to play already. After ensuring the entire crew has played the game, Captain Picard signals Etana's ship that they are prepared to distribute the device to other ships in the sector. Act Five After communicating with Etana, the bridge crew discover that Robin and Wesley have been deceiving them, and attempt to trap Wesley via capturing Robin and forcing her to play the game. Wesley meets up with Robin in Engineering but as they work he comes to realize that she has been compromised, confirmed when she offers a game device in response. Wes quickly realizes Worf and Riker are approaching from behind. He escapes Engineering with them in hot pursuit. When further progress is blocked by a force field, he activates a transport program he had prepared ahead of time, just in case. He is beamed to Transporter room three, on deck six. Wesley ditches his combadge as he flees the room. After working through some of Wesley's sabotage, the crew track him to deck six and trap him with force fields. Wesley takes out a type-1 phaser and sets it to randomly fire on the force field. This activity is detected, tricking the crew into thinking he was trying to cut through it and buying him time to get away. He escapes into the Jefferies tubes, but they scan for his body heat in that quarter of the saucer section. Knowing where he's going, Worf and Riker ambush Wesley in the Jefferies tubes and capture him. Even though he grabs onto a grate to anchor himself, they eventually manage to drag him to the bridge, with Wesley struggling the entire way. Held down into the captain's chair, he is forced to use the game device, his head held still and eyes forced open. Although he initially resists by avoiding the funnels, he is soon subdued by the funnels. He receives the pleasure signals and is quickly overwhelmed and addicted. He begins scoring deliberately. At that moment, the lights on the bridge die, plunging the room into darkness. Data appears from the turbolift and, using a palm beacon, flashes an optical burst pattern into everyone's eyes to disrupt the mind-controlling effects of the game. He reports that he did the same to the rest of the ship, setting all lights and displays to flash as his palm beacon did. When Picard asks how Data is standing after being shut off, Wesley explains that he repaired Data. After learning the situation, Data had set to work on finding a way to dispel the mind-control (eventually developing the coded burst pattern), while Wesley distracted the crew as long as he could with his wild goose chase. Worf locks onto Etana's ship with a tractor beam. She angrily hails Enterprise, demanding an explanation. When Picard says that her plot has failed, she threatens to destroy the Enterprise, but Worf scans her ship and pointedly reports that her ship is not a threat at all. After making it clear to Etana that she cannot escape, Riker closes the channel (as she is completely speechless anyway) and the Enterprise takes her to Starbase 82 to let Starfleet deal with her and her crew. Meanwhile, Wesley prepares to leave the Enterprise and be taken back to Starfleet Academy. Robin says goodbye, they kiss each other, and she gives Wesley her 102 laws written down. Memorable Quotes "Would you like me to leave the two of you alone?" : - Riker to Troi and her chocolate sundae "I never met a chocolate I didn't like." : - Troi "Chocolate is a serious thing." : - Troi "Your neutrinos are drifting." : - Robin Lefler to Wesley, who is a bit slow in disengaging a handshake with her "Each wishes to be the first to use the thermal imaging array." "Well, tell 'em to flip a coin. We've got to work together on this mission otherwise we're never gonna get it done." "A coin. Very good. I will replicate one immediately." : - Data and Geordi Background Story and script * Brannon Braga compared the plot of this episode to . (Intergalactic Guest Stars, TNG Season 5 DVD special features) Production * "The Game" was the first episode to air following Gene Roddenberry's death on . Sets, props, and costumes *A suite on Risa, as it appeared in , was recreated for this episode. It has the same architecture and similar decorations (including a horga'hn) as Captain Picard's room and even features the Risian ocean, seen through the window. * The engineering laboratory is a re-use of the sickbay lab, also seen as the tactical laboratory. It includes the star chart seen behind Dexter Remmick in . * The Ktarian starship is a re-use of the Zalkonian warship, which itself was a redress of the Tarellian plague ship. * Several parts of the bridge of the Ktarian ship, including the chair and the viewscreen, also appeared on Romulan ships. * This is the first appearance of Wesley Crusher's cadet-style Starfleet uniform. * The blue-grey shirt that Wil Wheaton wore as Wesley in this episode was auctioned off in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction. Continuity * This was the second and last appearance of Ensign Robin Lefler (Ashley Judd). Wheaton fondly remembered working with Judd, noting that he was Judd's first on-screen kiss. (Intergalactic Guest Stars, TNG Season 5 DVD special features) * Data references the events of when he tells Wesley that his mother recently taught him how to dance. Video and DVD releases *Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 53, . *UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment): Volume 5.2, catalogue number VHR 4761, . *As part of the TNG Season 5 DVD collection. Links and references Starring * Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard * Jonathan Frakes as Commander William T. Riker Also starring * LeVar Burton as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge * Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf * Gates McFadden as Doctor Beverly Crusher * Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi * Brent Spiner as Lieutenant Commander Data Guest stars * Ashley Judd as Robin Lefler * Katherine Moffat as Etana Jol * Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien * Patti Yasutake as Alyssa Ogawa ;And * Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher Co-stars * Diane M. Hurley as a Woman * Majel Barrett as the computer voice Uncredited co-stars * Joe Bauman as Garvey * T. Cruz as Lopez * Randy James as Jones * Michael Moorhead as a science division ensign * Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace * Dru Wagner as an operations division officer * Unknown actor as Alfonse Pacelli References A.F.; anthropology; antimatter regulator; bioactive silicon; Boothby; brain; cadet; cherry; chili sauce; chocolate; chocolate chips; chocolate fudge; chocolate ice cream; Cleon system; [[USS Cochrane|''Cochrane, USS]]; coffee; coin; coma; cortex processor; Creative Writing; dance; The Dancing Doctor; elm; ''Endeavour'', USS; engineering laboratory; exobiology; frontal lobe; gamma ray scanner; horga'hn; Horne, Walter; ice cream; internal sensors; Jefferies tube; Ktarians; Ktarian starship; Ktarian game; lateral sensor; Latin; Lefler's Laws; Martoni, Adam; ''Merrimack'', USS; mud; neurological behavior program; neuroreceptor; neutrino; Novakovich; O'Brien, Molly; ; Oceanus IV; Organic Chemistry; palm beacon; Phoenix Cluster; physics lab; planetary evolution; plasma specialist; positronic brain; positronic link; power cell; practical joke; prefrontal cortex; psychotropic drug; reticular formation; Risa; Sadie Hawkins Dance; security alert; sensor array; septal area; serotonin; servo; shuttle; site-to-site transport; sonic shower; specialist; Spot; Starbase 67; Starbase 82; Starfleet Academy; stellar cartography; stellar physics; stellar physicist; synapse; Tarvokian pound cake; tea; thermal imaging array; three-dimensional chess; tricorder; warp coil; ''Zhukov'', USS |next= }} de:Gefährliche Spielsucht es:The Game fr:The Game ja:TNG:エイリアン・ゲーム nl:The Game pl:The Game Game, The